Baller-in-Chief

Here is the full video of President Barack Obama’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno:

And, here’s the basketball portion of the full transcript:

MR. LENO: And how about, are you going to put in a basketball court?

MR. OBAMA: Oh, yes. Yes. Well, we have a basketball court already at Camp David. We just had a little rim that was inadequate

–- (laughter) –- at the White House. But there are tennis courts, so we’re going to just get those –- you know, those rims that you can roll in and out. And then we’ll just put them on either –-

MR. LENO: Let me ask you, when people –- Mr. President, would you like to play? Yes, I would. Do they throw the game? Come on. (Laughter and applause.)

MR. OBAMA: I don’t see why they would throw the game — except for all those Secret Service guys with guns around. (Laughter.)

MR. LENO: Yes, exactly.

MR. OBAMA: I will say that I don’t think I get the hard fouls that I used to. Usually I don’t –-

MR. LENO: Yes, Reggie goes, ohhh, I missed, ohhh. (Laughter.)

MR. OBAMA: Reggie doesn’t do that. This is Reggie Love, my assistant. He played for Duke, very competitive guy. He doesn’t let me win because, as he pointed out, if you lose to Obama you never hear the end of it. (Laughter.)

MR. LENO: See, there you go. Now, have you picked a final four?

MR. OBAMA: I did.

MR. LENO: Okay. How about your final one, who do you got?

MR. OBAMA: I got North Carolina Tar Heels. (Applause.)

MR. LENO: North Carolina.

MR. OBAMA: I think I got –- I got a hard time from Reggie, because he played at Duke, and you know, Coach K, being competitive, I think was a little –- you know, pushed back a little bit today. And I understand that. That’s what you want. You want everybody to be competitive. I think these are all great teams.

MR. LENO: Like, do you look at the whole picture when you do that? For example, isn’t that a swing state? (Laughter and applause.) I’m just saying, are you looking at the whole picture when you pick?

MR. OBAMA: I mean, the fact that teams from North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, all seem to do well in my bracket –- (laughter) –- I think is a complete coincidence. Absolutely.

Let’s hope that the portable hoops are only temporary.  They’ll do for now, during the summer and while the economy may not allow him to justify the expense of constructing an indoor court.  However, come next November …

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 11:04 am and is filed under Humor, Videos.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.